Overview

• Major unions staged protests and strikes in more than 200 towns and cities, prompting the Eiffel Tower to shut to visitors.
• The Interior Ministry reported 195,000 protesters nationwide, including 24,000 in Paris, while unions claimed a higher turnout.
• Authorities deployed about 76,000 police nationwide, including roughly 5,000 in the Paris region, to oversee the demonstrations.
• Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has withheld detailed budget plans and a full cabinet list as opposition parties and unions threaten political pushback.
• Lecornu says he aims to cut the 2026 deficit to about 4.7% of GDP, as unions demand wealth taxes and a rollback of pension changes.